Afghanistan-Pakistan: Discussions Of Peace Process Following Mansour’s Death
Wednesday, June 1st, 2016 8:52:00 by modousarr
Following the election of a successor to Mullah Akhtar Mansour by the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan and Afghanistan debated the fate of the peace process.
On Monday, Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal of the Afghan envoy held a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s senior aide, Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad. Officials claimed that several important matters, not to mention the fate of the Afghan peace process after the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar-Mansour, were discussed during the meeting.
Washington is blamed by Pakistan for ruining peace efforts with the Afghan Taliban by eliminating Mullah Mansour in a drone strike.
Sartaj Aziz told reporters, “The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a drone strike on May 21 has added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict,” adding that “We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process.”
With regards to the implications of the US move, he claimed that Mansoor’s killing had negatively compromised efforts to reach a political solution to the never-ending turmoil in the war-torn Afghanistan. He added that the last meeting held on April 18th of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), the four member parties, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China collectively believed that politically negotiated settlement was the best option and strides should continue to bring Taliban to the table.
Additionally, Afghan Taliban’s new leader promised that there would be no return to peace talks with the government in an audio recording delivered by the group after the death of its predecessor, Mansour, by a US drone.
The man identified as Haibatullah Akhundzada said in the recording, “No, no we will not come to any type of peace talks.”
It could not be independently verified that the voice was that of Akhundzada or when it was recorded
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